Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 371,216 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 10,025 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $117,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $335.45. 2,319,324 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,828,186. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $321.50. The company has a market cap of $623.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $366.54.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $2,930,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $393.00 target price (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.84.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.